General
General Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that work is under way on President Vladimir Putin’s order to prepare proposals for a possible Russian nuclear test, state news agency TASS reported.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that work has begun on President Vladimir Putin’s directive to develop proposals for a potential Russian nuclear test, according to state news agency TASS.
“Regarding President Putin’s instruction at the Security Council meeting on November 5, it has been accepted for implementation and is being worked on. The public will be informed of the results,” Lavrov was quoted as saying.
The move follows US President Donald Trump’s announcement last week that Washington would resume nuclear testing, a decision that has further strained ties between the two nuclear powers.
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Lavrov said Moscow had not received any official clarification from the United States about Trump’s order.
Relations between Russia and the US have deteriorated sharply in recent weeks, with Trump cancelling a planned summit with Putin and imposing new sanctions on Moscow over its ongoing war in Ukraine.
On Friday, Russia has called on the United States to clarify recent remarks by President Donald Trump regarding a potential resumption of nuclear testing, warning that such a move could provoke serious responses from other nations.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, made the remarks at a press briefing in Moscow on Friday.
Amid the uncertainty over US intentions, President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday directed senior officials to draft proposals for a possible Russian nuclear test in retaliation to any American test.
Russia has not conducted a nuclear test since the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, and together with the U.S., it maintains the largest nuclear arsenal in the world.
With inputs from agencies